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Mars Attacks!

Mars Attacks!

List Price: $9.97
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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Silly but OK
Review: This a stupid, but cute and entertaining movie with lots of known actors. I enjoyed the movie although I can not really recommend it as good. It is basically a satire of an early b\w movie (war of the worlds I thinnk).

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A film for misanthropes
Review: Spotty satire of 1950s sci-fi (among other things) is enlivened by a truly nasty streak of misanthropy as well as a glorious, witty score by Danny Elfman. Hilarious when it's "on," and at least visually interesting when it's "off," this film probably deserved its critical drubbing and box-office failure. I thought it was one of the best of its year anyway -- one of a mere handful of films from the past decade that can still make me laugh like a maniac.

If you like cult movies, you should see this one. All the same, rent before you buy.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Entertaining Spoof Inspired From 1950's Sci-Fi Films
Review: Tim Burton's film "Mars Attacks!" is a silly, satirical, sci-fi spoof of the 1996 film "Independence Day" and was inspired by several 1950's-era sci-fi/horror films (mostly of the "B-movie" variety) including:
* "Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers" (1956): the flying saucers used by Tim Burton are nearly identical to the ones used in this film.
* "Invasion of the Saucer Men" (1957): the bulbous, vein-covered heads of the aliens may have inspired the design of Tim Burton's Martian design.
* "This Island Earth" (1955): the Metaluna mutant insect workers with large eyes and bulbous heads may also have inspired Tim Burton's Martian design.
* "War of the Worlds" (1953): waves of seemingly unstoppable Martian ships attack the Earth with powerful weapons that burn everything.

After President James Dale (Jack Nicholson) is warned that a large number of ships were detected leaving the surface of Mars, General Decker (Rod Steiger) recommends military action; but Professor Donald Kessler (Pierce Brosnan) and Press Secretary Jerry Ross (Martin Short) recommend opening a dialog with the approaching Martians. After finding a way to translate the strange Martian language, Professor Kessler establishes a dialog with the Martians and a meeting place is agreed upon in the desert outside of Las Vegas, but events go awry as the Martians attack the American dignitaries and other personnel. Was the attack really a misunderstanding?

Tim Burton's satirical vision of a Martian invasion of Earth include political ineptitude, Americans' attitudes towards government and military "intelligence". Though the characters and story are not as endearing as those of the better sci-fi spoof "Galaxy Quest", "Mars Attacks!" is still a very entertaining film. Other cast members in "Mars Attacks!" include Glenn Close as First Lady Marsha Dale, Annette Benning as Art's wife Barbara Land, Sarah Jessica Parker as a reporter captured by the Martians, Lukas Haas as the unintentional hero, and other performances from Danny DeVito, Michael J. Fox, Tom Jones, Jim Brown and Natalie Portman.

Overall, I rate "Mars Attacks!" with 4 out of 5 stars. People who enjoy sci-fi as well as fans of Tim Burton's films will more than likely enjoy the film. If you aren't sure whether you would enjoy a satirical film showing mankind and Martians battling (with lots of red and green blood), you could first rent a copy before deciding to purchase it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A fun movie
Review: First thing you'll notice about this movie is an all star cast. I've seen few movies with as many noticable names. Jack nicholson, Michael J Fox, Tim Burton, Tom Jones, Danny Divito... it goes on and on.

I've seen such mixed reviews of this movie, and it really depends on who your are and what your taste is. If you don't like corny, cheesy humor then you wont like this movie one bit. It helps if you are familiar with the old 50's sci-fi movies and such, which this movie spoofs. Also this movie is based on an old collectible card series called Mars Attacks, so if you're familiar with that you will likely enjoy it more.

Mars Attacks has many moments that are rediculously silly, and that's the whole point. That's what the movie is all about. The acting which is pretty cheesy at times is purposely portrayed that way for comedic effect. So my concern is that people judging this film are not taking into acount the type of movie they are rating. I think many who said this was the worst movie ever just don't like this type of movie, so thier dislike could have been predicted from the start.

In short while this is by no means a master piece of the cinema, it is a fun movie that gives you plenty of laughs, some entertaining special effects, and a lot of spoofing. This movie perfectly fits it's niche.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Another sample of the mind of Tim Burton
Review: MY RATING- 6.7

Well, let's begin to say the attitudes and reviews towards this mov here in Portugal, were mediocre-good as it always happens with a Tim Burton mov.

I wasn't that interested in this, I only enjoyed his Batman flicks, yet the other night they had it on tv, so I couldn't miss it. In general, it's a good mov, mildly entertaining, but not the best Burton has given to us.
The starting point is, as someone has said, the parody of the old fears of 50's sfifi movs, the hysteria a la Orson Welles on alien invasion and dealing with the invaders. And Tim manages to do it well with his typical twisted view to show the hysteria that would cause an martian attack.
We see a great deal of massacre by the aliens, runaways, different views on the attacks and some funny "experiences" like Sarah Jessica Parker with a dog's body or Bondian cientist Pierce Brosnan! In fact, the way of destroying the aliens come from an old tune from Sylvia Sidney radio! What a twist!
Well, the mov has so many different stars, that only a couple of them create a whole new scene. Some of them appear in almost cameos- De Vito, in a minimum role, Anette Benning, as the neohippy wife of cowboy Jack Nicholson who also stars as the U.S President. In fact, only Nicholson and Glenn Close get the status of stars. Others include Rod Steiger (one of my fave actors), the now-adored Natalie Portman, a grown up Lukas Haas (from Witness), Joe Don Baker, the old lady Sylvia Sidney (loved her in the 30's movs!), Martin Short and attention to the silent appearance of Lisa Marie (Burton's girlfriend) as the female alien. Even Tom Jones appears to sing in the new world "It's Not Unsual" after escaping with Benning in a plane! Well, maybe his presence has somekind of meaning about not being unusual that some of these days we get invaded by aliens.

Overall, it's a nice mov, it's not even the best of the director, yet a must to anyone who enjoys his mad sense of humor, like me. However i as well as many others prefer Pee Wee's Big Adventure--

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not a good movie
Review: I am writing this review long after actually watching this movie but the long lasting impression is undying. This movie is horrible, throughout the movie I did not know whether to laugh or cry. Laugh at the fact that this movie was actually made or cry because I had wasted... on renting it. At no point during this two and half hours did I find the humor (a term I use loosely) the least bit interesting. The humor was just not funny and although it was a spoof the plot was still ridiculous. It is sad to see such a wonderful ensemble cast just be thrown away on such an unfunny script. I do not recommend this to anyone not even someone with an extremely dry sense of humor.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not Satire. Burton is a REANIMATOR.
Review: This movie was not based written as a spoof for any movie that was released before it. This movie was base on an underground card collection that told the graphic and demented story of Martians who came to earth to do one thing. That thing is clearly represented in this film, and as far as Burton goes, I feel none could have done it better. The only thing this movie lacks is the (artistically) odd shapes and lines usually found in Tim's artwork (see the "melancholy death of oyster boy and other tales") and movies such as "Beatlejuice" and "Nightmare B4 Xmas."

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Either love or hate it. I hate it.
Review: What can I say about this movie? I guess it just didn't do it for me. I found it dull and unentertaining. I went in expecting to laugh at satire of alien invader films; instead I got what seemed more of a tribute to cheesy alien movies. There were attempts at humor throughout the film, but with me they missed their mark.

I will admit that in general I am not a huge fan of Tim Burton movies. I just don't GET his weird dark gothic worlds. I didn't think he ruined Batman, but I wouldn't necessarily have envisioned him that way. This movie, in my opinion is the worst of the Tim Burton movies I've seen. I almost swore completely off his movies after this, but that would have been a mistake since he does manage to find stories that fit his weird style, like Sleepy Hollow, occasionally.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Something for Everybody
Review: This film satisfies on so many levels. As about 100+ reviewers before me have commented, it's a really great spoof on those campy films of the 50's which I grew up on. However, it's also a truly magnificent social comment on how various strata of our society respond to crisis. Peace-freak types are ready to embrace the invaders, the academician assumes because they are technologically advanced, they come with benevolent intent and the governing bodies look to him for advice. The military types assume malevolent intent as a sort of knee-jerk reaction. The president assures the public "all is well' even though it isn't and tells them to go about their lives. The President and First Lady sit gulping their dinner(like the rest of us) while watching the glitzy newslady with the brain of an ambitious 6 year-old. The White House press secretary advises the Pres on various photo-ops. I could go on and on. This film is not only about 50's sci-fi flicks just as "Gulliver's Travels" was also not only a unique tale for children in its day. One only need to look at the current situation we find ourselves in with destructive forces from the Middle East to see the corresponding elements in this film. It not only satisfied the graying ex-English major in me but it is damn good fun. Brilliant but apparently misunderstood.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: It was all over after "Scissorhands."
Review: Tim Burton is a master of visual storytelling who, in HIS OWN WORDS (from an episode of the IFC TV series "The Directors"), couldn't tell a good script from a bad script if it fell on him (I'm paraphrasing here, but the message was the same). However, early in his career, he was partners with producer Denise DiNovi, who COULD spot good material. As a result, he made the stunning, quality motion pictures "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure," "Beetlejuice," "Batman," "Edward Scissorhands," and "Batman Returns." Then, after a falling out, DiNovi split and he made the visually stunning, awful films "Ed Wood" (yeah, I know many people will disagree with that but, personally I though it was pretty crummy apart from Martin Landau and Johnny Depp's performances... maybe one could call that title "okay" to "pretty good"), "Planet of the Apes," "Sleepy Hollow," and this waste of time. I won't even include "Nightmare Before Christmas" because that was a Henry Selick film which Burton was not even involved with during production (even though Burton gets all the credit for it). What a waste of talent. He needs to find someone to fill DiNovi's shoes because all of these films' paper-thin scripts sink his still-impressive visuals. Great to look at but empty.


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